The Impossible Becomes Possible
Chapter 1 I was incredibly bored. I was sitting in my room on a sweltering hot July afternoon, waiting for a reconnaissance flight to investigate Invest 93L over the western Atlantic Ocean. HHW Discord chat was dead. The flight left Keesler Air Force Base a few hours ago. I was a little skeptical that the aircraft would be able to close off a well-defined circulation center. After refreshing Tropical Tidbits every so often for about an hour, the status of the flight was changed from "En Route" to "In Storm." It was time to see what recon would find. All I had seen so far was tropical depression force easterly winds. I refreshed again 10 minutes later. More easterlies. 10 minutes later. More easterlies. This was going nowhere. Everyone on HHW was wishcasting this system to become a hurricane, which I don't think is going to happen. ECMWF kept the system at only 995 millibars at landfall near southeastern North Carolina in 48 hours, which is likely a strong tropical storm at the most. I refreshed again. The easterly winds had switched to southerlies as the plane had turned to the south. The southerly winds slightly increased in intensity. I saw some green barbs, which indicated flight level winds of tropical storm strength. The next time I refreshed, I jumped in the air. WEST WINDS! WEST WINDS! WEST WINDS! This looks like a tropical cyclone! There was also a distinct pressure fall. It looks like recon has found a well-defined center of circulation. A few minutes later I refreshed again. It was the classic orange dot, with "1006" listed above it. A vortex data message was issued. The fun was about to begin. Chapter 2 I was very excited. I knew NHC was about to call it. Everyone on HHW was excited. They thought 93L, likely to be Tropical Storm Andrea at the next advisory, would break the 5-year July Atlantic hurricane drought. I still did not think so, but I was hoping it would be exciting to track. I had not tracked an Atlantic storm since Leslie in October of the mediocre 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. I refreshed the NHC over and over again, before I saw this message: YESSSS!!!!! I screamed. Fortunately I was home alone since nobody heard me. This was the moment I had been waiting for for 7 months: the start of a new and hopefully more active season after a fairly quiet 2018. After a spamfest, I refreshed the NHC advisory page once again. The advisory was out. The initial intensity for Andrea was 35 knots (40 mph), with a minimum pressure of 1006 mb. The NHC forecast called for intensification with a 70 mph tropical storm at landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina in about 36 hours. I was joking about how Andrea probably won't become a hurricane and that it would probably fail at 70 mph. After realizing that I could make the drive to witness a TC landfall for the first time ever, I had an important realization. This was my chance. I knew I could do this. Chapter 3 After advisories were initiated, I got in my car and drove to Wilmington. The recon aircraft was still investigating Andrea, but I did not want to use my phone while I was driving. I arrived about two hours later at a budget motel. It was beginning to get dark. Fortunately, one last room was available. As I walked into the motel lobby, I saw a TV station covering Andrea. The headline read: ANDREA RAPIDLY STRENGTHENING OVER THE ATLANTIC WITH 60 MPH WINDS. 60 mph? This had to be a mistake, right? Only it was not. I checked the NHC Page, and saw a special advisory was issued! Despite a high central pressure of 1003 mb, the initial intensity was 60 mph! I read the special discussion, authored by Stacy Stewart, which read that the storm was upgraded based on a SFMR report of 51 knots. I almost forgot about my room as the sky turned dark outside. I was dazed and confused by the rapid intensification of Andrea. I heard a very familiar female voice a few seconds later. "Bob????" I nearly fainted. How did she know my name if it wasn't who I thought it was? Chapter 4 I looked at the girl's face. She looked very familiar. For a second, I was confused, but I finally remembered: it was L1G. What was L1G doing at a hotel? "Yes, it is me L1G. What brings you here? We had a lot of last minute cancellations because of Andrea. I've heard it may reach Level 1 status before it arrives," said L1G. "Well actually that is why I came here! I wanted to get out of the house to come see Andrea make landfall. And by the way, it is Category, not Level," I replied. I couldn't believe it. This seemed surreal. What was really happening? "Oops...I always thought it was Level for some reason," replied L1G. "And why would you want to see a hurricane hit? They are dangerous" "You see, L1G, I track hurricanes for a living. I have waited all year for this. The 2018 season was very disappointing, the -AMO and El Niño kept activity a little below average. And we have a chance for our first July hurricane in 5 years!" I said. "Wow! That's cool. I have actually been working here over the summer. Anyways, you have room 217. Here is your key," said L1G. I took the stairs up to my room. It wasn't very nice. But that didn't matter. That was not why I was here. I was here to watch Andrea make landfall. The models are in good agreement that landfall will occur in about 36 hours very near here. Recon finally left the storm. I got in bed, but before I went to sleep I stayed up for the 11:00 p.m. advisory. The intensity was kept at 60 mph, but the pressure had fallen to 997 mb based on a buoy report! I also realized something: I was under a HURRICANE WARNING! Category:Bobnekaro Category:Hypothetical Stories Category:Weather Stories